At 18, docs gave him three hours to dwell. Now, he’s constructed a $10 million-a-year online game studio

What started in 2008 as a seemingly easy nosebleed had was a life-threatening disaster: His physique was critically in need of blood platelets, and at one level, docs informed him he had solely three hours to dwell. Yang survived, however not earlier than spending two years out and in of hospitals.

During that troublesome stretch, Yang discovered an sudden lifeline: video video games like League of Legends, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft.

“Games like League of Legends weren’t really made to help me, but in the end, they basically saved my life,” Yang, now in his mid-30s, informed Fortune. “What if I start making games with the intention to help people? What kind of power would that be able to unlock?”

Those questions adopted him when he transferred nearer to house to the University of Colorado Boulder and started learning enterprise. With a $1,000 preliminary funding, he launched Serenity Forge—a recreation improvement and publishing firm constructed across the mission he scribbled in between lectures: “We create meaningful and emotionally impactful experiences that challenge the way you think.” 

More than a decade later, the over 40-person studio has printed roughly 70 titles, together with Lifeless Planet and Doki Doki Literature Club (which has been downloaded over 30 million instances), and brings in between $10 and $15 million yearly. But for Yang, success has not been outlined by copies bought or income made—however impression.

Profits aren’t the north star, impressed by the previous CEO of Whole Foods

Before Serenity Forge, Yang did summer time internships at Wells Fargo and the Federal Reserve—nevertheless it was a quote from John Mackey, the cofounder and former CEO of Whole Foods, that he heard at school, which formed his profession probably the most: “Just as people cannot live without eating, so a business cannot live without profits. But most people don’t live to eat, and neither must a business live just to make profits.”

That framing has change into core to Serenity Forge’s technique: pushing the world ahead with timeless artistic and emotional gaming experiences. But maintaining true to that mission usually means turning down profitable alternatives, Yang admitted.

“There are so many games over the years that were pitched to us where we looked at it was like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna make us, like, $20 million but we’re gonna say no to it, because it’s not a Serenity Forge game,’” Yang stated.

And whereas prioritizing impression will not be at all times simple, Yang stated it’s strengthened by the corporate’s prospects who even run as much as him in public.

“There will be all these fans, teenagers, that would line up, talk to me. They will cry, they would give me hugs and tell me, ‘you’re the reason that I realized that I was in an abusive relationship and I’m now way healthier and way happier because of the art that you created,’” Yang informed Fortune.

“That, I think, has always been the thing that drives me way more so than the bottom line or like your employee count or all the other stuff.”

Yang’s recommendation for founders: fail usually—and do it rapidly

The secret for fulfillment, Yang stated, isn’t expertise or timing—it’s studying to maneuver by means of failure rapidly and intentionally. That’s very true in crowded industries like recreation improvement, the place 1000’s of studios compete for consideration and solely a sliver break by means of.

He pointed to Rovio Entertainment, the corporate behind Angry Birds, which created over 50 other games earlier than hanging gold with the cellular recreation franchise. Serenity Forge has confronted its personal model of that actuality, with Yang being the primary to confess not each considered one of its video games has landed.

But what founders can management, Yang added, is how they transfer ahead—ideally with diligence and self-discipline.

“Life can be complicated,” he stated. “When you’re starting a business to do things, be as nuanced as you can about it, and try to try to keep an open mind about the realities of the world.”

A model of this story initially printed on Fortune.com on December 10, 2025.

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